April 1, 2022
Disclaimer: please disregard the date at the top of this piece, or more to the point, the significance of said date. This is NOT an April Fools joke!
There are three words that represent the first two months of the year:
- “Happy New Year” in January
- “Be my Valentine” in February
Might we suggest these three for March?
- “Notice to Proceed”
Those words may not receive the recognition or have the positive vibes of the first two, but on literally the last day of March, we received those three words. They will drastically change the scope of what happens on the Pleasantview campus.
Those words allow us to move ahead with the building project…officially. We received approval for a sizeable, yet interest-friendly, loan from USDA…in mid-September of 2021. Then came more requirements and more information and documents needing to be submitted. We kept telling you that ‘it’s right around the corner.’
It has been a serious lesson in patience.
But on March 31, a meeting took place between Cardinal Construction, Pope Architects, a private building inspector, three reps from USDA, and three of us from Pleasantview. As the meeting wrapped up, we verbally received our “notice to proceed,” giving us full permission to move forward ‘full steam ahead!’
So what does that mean? It means that come Monday, April 4, work will begin in earnest…construction equipment will likely show up…and the organized chaos of a major project like this will begin! Barring major changes and unexpected hiccups, it is expected to be a nearly-two-year process.
We’d be remiss in saying the funds are all in and just waiting to be spent. The fact is, the loan is friendly to us, as mentioned above. But we continue to raise funds to offset the loan and ease the pressures financially; we will continue to ask for your investment.
For now we celebrate the okay to move forward, and we celebrate God’s blessing of granting us the opportunity to help make things better for our residents. We have a symbolic groundbreaking ceremony planned for Sunday, April 24 at 4:00 pm. Any and all are invited to help us celebrate!
We truly do “live in community” at Pleasantview and the community at large…and we thank you for being a vital part of what happens here!